The Washington critic., 1887-07-07
TOPICS OF THE DAY.

A few days since In one OF our street
cars q stranger said to Major Davis. the
Washington correspondent Of the Min.
neapolis Tribune: what q beautiful
city this has got to be-" "Ycs, sir. we
think It is rapidly becoming first In the
list Of beautiful cities Of the world"
1.-THE last time visited II was In 1855,
and thought It was the most God,for.
saken, lifeless town TO be called the
capital city Of free people that could be
imagined. The Improvements OF the
Iublic grounds south Of the Executive
Mansion, on portion Of which were
the drill grounds and encampment OF
the National Drill organizations. had
just been what was called completed.
That portion of the mall west OF Sew.
enth street was In rough state OF In
completion, while the portion east OF II
was left untouched, for want Of proper
appropriation. 1t was said. The appear.
ance Of the whole city-houses, streets,
everything connected with II, was
uninviting, repulsive, and l left the
day after my arrival, ashamed OF every.
thing saw as an American. But
thanks to the enterprise and genius OF
Alexander II. Shepherd Washington Is
justly entitled to be called, take II all
In all--its magnificent public buildings,
unequaled parks and reservations.
varied and costly statues and monu.
ments, desirable private residences aud
Incompatible streets and avenues
the most beautiful city In the world,
opI tho m oct pnproniaI torrvipu ,,lano
while In the flesh, for the scholar,
statesman, millionaire or scientist. as
well as citizens in the humblest walks
Of life. am perfectly delighted with
1t, and shall return to England, where
have been living since 1870, all the
more proud of my native land, because
of the determination Of her citizens,
east, west, north, south, to make her
Capital City the admiration and wonder
Of the world"
Frank G.. Carpenter visited the
Rogues' Gallery In the Treasury the
other day, and of some Of the things
that he saw. there he thus writes to the
Cleveland Plaindedler: / am told that
there is scarcely an issue of our money
which has not been counterfeited, and
] saw In the scrapsbook counterfeit
notes of oil descriptions. One curiosity
was q 81 900 coupon of 1881, and the
Government has 204 Of these bonds
which they captured just before they
were ready to be put upon the country.
1t is an excellent imitation, and 1t is I'm.
possible for the ordinary man to detect
the difference between 1t and the orig.
inal. 1t was engraved by Smith, a
man who had worked for years for the
engraving office In New York which
engraved the Government money.
'Have any other of the Government
bonds been counterfeited l asked
the guard. "Yes, there was counter.
felt several years ago Of the old 7 80 Is.
sue. jay Cooke took o number of
these bonds, and the Treasury Depart.
ment redeemed SS4 900 of them before
their character was discovered. The
Government had to enter suit to re.
cover the money, but 1t did so, and
the banks had to stand the loss.
The most counterfeiting Is done In
connection with small notes-ones,
tWOsy hNCb uuu OuC UuuuItuS. LtSS
care Is needed in passing these, as peo.
pie do not look at them so closely.
Here, however, Is a curiosity" And
the man held up $50 greenback.
THAT bill is one of the best counter.
fcits In circulation, and 1t is made en-
tirely with the pen. Every line and
dot. with all the shades of green, black,
and red Of the regular $50 greenback
are reproduced here with skill that Is
marvellous. We cannot find the
counterfeiter, and he has been clrculat-
ing these bills for years" / next
picked up some So notes, and the guard,
picking up So, went on. "That,"
said he, "is very dangerous counter.
felt, and the plates from which 1t was
produced are so near like the genuine
that they are almost perfect. We got
$4,000 of this money when we cap.
tured the man who made them, and there
was great deal In circulation. Some
was sent here for redemption, and we
detected the fraud by microscopic ex-
animation. The trouble was that the
same plate was used for six or eight
different banks. They were made so
that the name of the bank could be
changed, and when 1t was advertised
over the country that there were
connterfeits Of such bank issue, they
changed the name Of the bank and were
thus enabled to get more upon the mar
ket."
"a
Since 1t became fashionable to be
gray, says the New York Sun, the
price of real gray hair has risen to
enormous figures. A hairdresser in
Sixth avenue recently filled an order
for one of his customers for seven
ounces Of gray hair 2S inches long,
and the price was 800 an ounce, or
500 for the order. The same amount
and quality of light brown hair would
have cost about $50. The high price
Is caused not only by the great demand
that has sprung up for gray hair, but
because good live gray hair Is scarce.
1t is comparatively easy to secure
scant, short gray locks, but few heads
yield the beautiful pearl gray that is so
fashionable when their owners grow
old. The hair falls out, leaving what
remains thin and Of poor quality, or
II 1t remains on the head the ends
turn yellow and fray. The ordinary
lengths of hair supplied to order not
from 20 to 2S inches. Gray hair Is not
often found so long. and when II does
grow that length the owner Is usually
found in that class Of society that takes
too much pride In Its hair to sell 1t. 1t
takes ten times as long to fill an order
for gray hair as for the usual shades Of
brown. The head of the largest hair
house in this city said that he would
not undertake to fill gray hair order
TO certainty within six months, as he
would have to send to his European cor
respondent TO get the goods. Almost
all the live white hair comes from Eu.
rope, the Swiss and Italians furnish.